How Frequently Do You Feed Your BPs?

[ladybird]

I feed mine every 14 days because they get a large prey item. They're fine like that, they still grow well etc. Advantages are much less poo, and cheaper!

[Bettacreek]

Hate to burst your bubble, but if it has more nutritional value, its better for your snake right? Nutritionally to say the least

I haven't read the entire thread, however, I wanted to point something out here. Vitamin stuffed rats would have more nutritional value, but does that make it better for your snake? No. What about the vitamins that build up in the system and can actually lead to poisoning? Vitamin A can be poison in too large amounts, along with numerous other non-water soluable vitamins, and can cause problems, including shut-down of the kidneys.

[Muze]

for that size.. i would recommend 1 mouse a week.. n when it gets bigger like 2 feet long.. start giving it small rats once a week... but dont ever give it something u think it cant handle because i made that mistake once by giving my ball a huge rat.. and i would also recommend giving ur ball live mice instead of frozen.. i dont know why poeple even give it frozen food at all i guess some people are scared the mouse or rat will damage the snake but ive never had that problem and ive had my ball for 5 months

I purchased an adult female YB from a big name breeder a couple of weeks ago that is blind in one eye from when a live rat feeder scratched it. All the BPs I have that used to feed live have some sort of scar on their bodies from rodent attacks. I feed all of mine only F/T (I will feed live if necessary, though). You can feed either live, P/K, or F/T. It is a matter of preference. If you feed live, you have to monitor the rodent, if you feed P/K, you either have to kill it yourself, or have the pet store do it for you. If you feed it F/T, it takes a lot of patience to get them converted.

There is nothing being taken away from the snake's wild nature by feeding dead prey. In the wild, the snake has plenty of room to move around-and away. In captivity it does not. Again, it is a matter of preference.

[RoyalGuardian]

My baby Calypso will get fed every 5 days and my big boy Ki gets fed weekly

[WingedWolfPsion]

I only feed live to my snakes that absolutely refuse everything else--and I stun any older rodents that get fed. Yes, they most certainly can and will damage the snakes. My live-eaters already have a few minor scars because they just don't grab the rodent right each time. (The albinos are particularly bad about it, and I have to balance offering them unconscious prey--which the female wants to turn her nose up at, since it doesn't move--and getting the betadine ready if the rodent isn't out of it enough, and bites).
There just isn't time to get forceps in there to intervene if the snake wraps the rodent with the rodent's mouth against its body. (I keep trying, but those two just won't take prekilled--or even live off of forceps, and it's been a year).

Any nutritional argument you could make about f/t can be solved by feeding pre-killed, or stuffing a bit of brewer's yeast into the ft rodent.

I am not entertained by feeding live to the snakes that won't eat dead prey--I am generally anxious. I don't want them to get hurt.

[immortalic]

A baby BP should be fed every 5-7 days, for as long as they will accept it that often, the first 2 years of a snake's life determines their size later in life. I have heard of people feeding 2 times a week, not power feeding, but a "heavy" feeding, because supposebly BPs metabolisms are higher as babies, and therefore can eat more often, and grow more quickly. I would suggest trying to switch to rat pups or extremely small rats, as they are more nutritious for the snake. I also would never, ever feed a snake live, there are some horrible incidents that have happened. I realize this is from another forum, but check it out, maybe it'll change some peoples' minds. http://www.redtailboas.com/forum/sho...ight=feed+live
RodentPro.com

[bimmer]

Can you point me to a study that says that live is healthier and more exciting for the snake than f/t? The fact that there are thousands of animals feed f/t that are thriving in collections around the world is proof enough that f/t is no less healthy than feeding live.

I am impressed with my snakes and the fact that they are perfectly designed to dispatch their prey - but if entertainment value is the reason to choose to feed live, the keeper might want to re-think their reason for having a snake.

not trying to be rude... but freezing DOES make them lose some nutritional value, not much but it does. for one, it gets rid of at least one or two vitimins that are important to a snake (i forget which ones). i mean its not a BIG difference but i would personaly rather feed live. they do it in the wild and i think they should do it in captivity. after all it's pretty much the one natural that they have left when they're trapped in a cage all day.

not saying it cant be bad for the snake (getting bit and stuff) but i sit and wait till they grab it before i leave the room. although alot of you guys have way to many snakes to be able to do that, so i understand, lol.

[rabernet]

not trying to be rude... but freezing DOES make them lose some nutritional value, not much but it does. for one, it gets rid of at least one or two vitimins that are important to a snake (i forget which ones). i mean its not a BIG difference but i would personaly rather feed live. they do it in the wild and i think they should do it in captivity. after all it's pretty much the one natural that they have left when they're trapped in a cage all day.

not saying it cant be bad for the snake (getting bit and stuff) but i sit and wait till they grab it before i leave the room. although alot of you guys have way to many snakes to be able to do that, so i understand, lol.

There haven't been any studies done on the nutritional requirements of ball pythons, so even if freezing causes loss of some nutritional value, who knows if it's nutritional value that the snake requires.

All that said, I feed live, I've never fed f/t or pre-killed. I don't stun the prey, and I've fed off over 4000 live prey items without incidence or injury to any of my animals. I have over 40 ball pythons, all who feed live from hatchlings to adults.

I still stand by my opinion that feeding live purely for the entertainment value is the wrong reason to feed live.

[rabernet]

I only feed live to my snakes that absolutely refuse everything else--and I stun any older rodents that get fed. Yes, they most certainly can and will damage the snakes. My live-eaters already have a few minor scars because they just don't grab the rodent right each time. (The albinos are particularly bad about it, and I have to balance offering them unconscious prey--which the female wants to turn her nose up at, since it doesn't move--and getting the betadine ready if the rodent isn't out of it enough, and bites).
There just isn't time to get forceps in there to intervene if the snake wraps the rodent with the rodent's mouth against its body. (I keep trying, but those two just won't take prekilled--or even live off of forceps, and it's been a year).

Have you ever just tried offering non-stunned animals, not on the forceps to your snakes?

I would imagine a stunned animal that's coming out of the fog would be far more angry and likely to bite than one that's not. Especially one that finds itself on the end of forceps.

I wouldn't know from personal experience, since I don't stun and only feed live. But I also don't have a problem with injuries to my collection. I've been feeding live prey for over three years to my collection, and none of them are scarred.

[BooRadleyAMG]

I feed Cali a live adult mouse every 5 days. The place I got her from had her on live Hoppers once every 7 days. She wasnt really thin but I noticed about the 5th or 6th day she was searching for another meal. I upped the size to small adult mice, but she was still searching 5 or 6 days later. Once I hit full Adult the searching stopped, and she does not refuse on the 5th day. So I take that as a sign that she is well feed and happy.

I've had her a little over 3 months now, and got her to take a F/T only once. She didn't constrict. I offered another F/T 5 days later and she wanted nothing to do with it. so 2 days after that I dropped in yet another live adult mouse and she struck, squeezed, and swallowed within 10 mins.

I only decided to try F/T for the fact that her last live meal before the F/T attempt, was on a thin line of going bad. She struck at its rear and had the mouse head exposed as it was being squeezed. I watched very closely to make sure she wasnt going to get bit. It scared me to think that she could have been bitten, so I decided to try F/T for the next feeding. (which was 5 days later.)

She is back to Live due to her refusing F/T for the time being. Still debating if I want to keep attempting F/T. I guess the only way to tell is if I get another scare from another close call. (Which I hope and pray never happends again)